Interview: Adam Carroll of Zoax

After discovering from his Twitter profile that myself and Adam share a common interest in horror movies I relished the opportunity to do a themed interview with him. In the not so spooky setting of Zoax’s tour van, I sat up front up front with Adam. Hope you guys enjoy!

Pit Troll said he wanted some “horror pics” to go with the interview. This seemed a good fit for the time of year…

As a baseline question, what are your favourite horror movies and who are your horror icons?

Adam – The first on screen character I was properly scared shitless by was Pennywise (from Stephen King’s It). To date, the scariest film I’ve watched is The Exorcist. I get freaked out by anything with a demonic possession theme but I’ll watch every single thing about it. Nothing else in the horror genre gets under my skin as much. My favourite horror genre is the slasher one though, films like Halloween. Friday the 13th is my favourite franchise but I’m also into the real rubbish ones like Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers. There’s a label out called Eighty Eight Films and they released a slasher collection line made up of really poorly rated cult movies like Killer Clowns and Don’t Go Into The Woods Alone. Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers is one of the stand out ones from that line, I just love the sheer and utter madness of it. It’s also got an incredible soundtrack!

Pit Troll – I’m gonna dig that one out when I get home tonight!

A – Yeah man, do it. It’s so funny!

You and I are both part of the metal scene so I need to ask you about a topic that’s sometimes hotly debated amongst metalheads. Do you prefer John Carpenter’s Halloween or Rob Zombie’s Halloween?

A – Straight up, it’s got to be John Carpenter’s and I think almost everybody would say that. People who slate Rob Zombies’ movie I don’t have time for though, because I think he did a really good job of it. I really like both of his in fact, one and two. No matter how good of a remake he did though, people were always going to slate it as John Carpenter’s Halloween is regarded as untouchable by some.

Just for giggles, imagine you’re being hunted through the forest. Who would you rather is coming after you, Chuck Norris or a Velociraptor?

A – I’d probably say Chuck Norris as I want to see if he still has all the hairs on his chest. Remember that film he was in with Bruce Lee and Bruce ripped it all off? I’d also want to see if he still does all the moves.

PT – Maybe the two of you could have a beard off!

A – He’d probably win, he’s like a “Lives In A Mountain” style guy.

Zoax are on tour and your plane crashes on a desert island. There’s no food so you have to resort to cannibalism. Who’s the first band member to get eaten?

A – Probably Joe, our bass player. He’ll probably see this and go “Why Me?” We could never eat our drummer though, he’s too nice. He’s got a heart of gold, we could just simply never eat Johnny. The rest of the lads we could all eat each other, that’d be fine.

PT – Do you think the lads would find you tasty?

A – Aww man, I’ll be a f**king treat!

If you yourself had the chance to direct a horror film, is there a real life event you would use as a basis or would it be something imaginary?

A – I’ve actually talked about this with a couple of mates before and I would like to do something along the lines of The Exorcist. I feel that nothing in that genre has ever been as good as that movie. The only one to ever come close was Rosemary’s Baby. I would love to make a film that caused as much carnage as The Exorcist did back in the day.

Do you think a book can be scarier than a film?

A – Yeah, it absolutely can. The scariest book I’ve ever read is Salem’s Lot. Vampires never really scared me, I’ve always loved like Nosferatu and Dracula movies. People told me how scary the Salem’s Lot book is and I was just like “How?” The Tobe Hooper movie adaption is good, but it’s nowhere near as scary as the book. It really got under my skin.

Do you read a lot of true crime at all? Is there a particular person who sticks out in your mind as being particularly scary, like a serial killer or psychopath?

A – Have you heard of Rasputin? He’s someone who makes me go “Woah”. Him or maybe Charles Manson (a cult leader whose followers committed several high profile murders). The scariest thing about events like that is they could actually happen anywhere and anytime.

Is Dracula’s castle in Transylvania, Romania on the Zoax to do list?

A – Yes! I would do anything to play there! Even if we never get to play there I would love to do some other mad, gothic castle where the owner comes out of a coffin and everything.

Have you ever or would you ever spend the night in a haunted house?

A – Probably not, ’cause I’m a wimp when it comes to stuff like that. I don’t know a lot of people who actually would either, unless that’s what they do for a living. I’ve been in places before that are apparently haunted and even though I’ve been there with a bunch of other people I’ve still been on edge.

In a make believe universe, Zoax are characters in a horror film. How do you survive? What are the do’s and dont’s?

A – I don’t know if we’d necessarily want to be this action packed crew who are lethal at what they do, but at the same time you don’t want to be doing all the stupid stuff like falling over things or picking up some ridiculous excuse for a weapon when there’s a shotgun right next to you.

Have you ever had a scary dream related to Zoax?

A – The only nightmare-esque thing I can think of is a time that I dreamt that I bumped into other lads from the band and they were able to pull parts of my body off, kind of like Mr Potato Head in Toy Story. I remember I wasn’t able to do the same to them and that was freaking me out.

We all know touring musicians can be guilty of being playboys. Have you or any other member of the band ever woken up next to a “horror”?

A – Not in this band, but in my old band I know a couple of people who did. I think everyone in a band knows someone who does. If you read Motley Crue’s The Dirt it’s filled with moments like that. So far Zoax are all saints.

Would Zoax ever do a horror themed album or stage show? Maybe something along the lines of Rocky Horror Picture Show?

A – I would love to do that. One of the things I like to do in my own time is experiment with synths and stuff on the computer, very John Carpenter influenced style stuff. If Zoax ever got asked to score a horror film we would totally do it. That would be an absolute dream for me.

Have you seen the movie Jennifer’s Body with Megan Fox? In the plot of that movie there’s a band who sacrifice Megan Fox to the Devil to further their own needs. Is that something Zoax would ever do? You can even pick a well known douchebag to sacrifice.

A – That’s a massive thing to think about. I’ll have to come back to you on that one.

One final question then, dude. If you could have any dead musician appear as a ghost and communicate with them, who would you choose?

A – Right now, probably David Bowie. He’s a massive influence of mine.